‘Peanuts’ creator Charles Schulz used CNH founder to design CA home

A famous St. Paul resident who moved to California when his comic strip career took off had an early connection with the founder of CNH Architects.

Glenn Cording was a childhood friend of Charles Schulz of “Peanuts” fame when he was in St. Paul, according to Architect John Natwick, a past-principal of CNH. Their relationship continued into adulthood, when Cording was tasked with designing a home for Schulz in California.

The large ranch house designed by Cording in 1959(see drawings) is still visible in pictures online at 2162 Coffee Lane in Sebastopol. It was probably built in 1960, explains CNH Principal Wayne Hilbert. The drawings predated CNH, listing the firm as Cording and Mastny Architects in Wayzata.

Finding images of the home online, Hilbert said there were likely changes to the 5,000- to 6,000-square-foot home, which has a balcony.

Charles Schulz in 1956.

“We don’t know if another architect took over construction of the house. They might have,” he said. The property is about 60 miles north of San Francisco.

A Press Democrat newspaper story reveals that Schulz bought the 28-acre property in 1958 to move his family from Minnesota to what was then apple country. A private studio was also built here in the 1960s, and some of its history is explored in the piece.

Another interesting background article and timeline on Schulz ran in the Star Tribune about three years ago. It’s worth a read.